Silence has not been golden…

In paradox to the subject of this article the author has been outspoken on the complex issues of tax and disabilities.

Depressingly though, for the hundreds of thousands of affected taxpayers, the author’s apparent lone voice does not appear to have been heard by taxpayers and their practitioners.

The old adage that statistics never lie supports the writers respectful assertion that “silence has not been golden” in respect of tax law and disabilities.

The statistics below speak for themselves and it is the author’s opinion that few (if any) neutral tax law and medical experts would disagree substantially with the content of this article.

So what is all the fuss about?

The writer established Bendels Consulting on 1 February 2007 with the express intention of maximizing tax deductions for the disability group of taxpayers. After considerable research and experience, the statistics below bear absolutely no correlation to the reality of the issues at hand, in the author’s respectful submission.

The official SARS statistics (available for view on www.sars.gov.za) reflect the following in respect of the disability group of taxpayers.

2010

No. of taxpayers assessed- 4 275 280

No. of disability taxpayers assessed – 26 999 (0.6315%)

Amount claimed as tax deductions by the 26 999 taxpayers – R1.119 million

Implied average deduction by taxpayers – R41 449.00

There are 6 categories of disabilities as set out in our law: physical, hearing, vision, communication, mental and intellectual. Comprehensive research has shown a more realistic picture of the disabled group of taxpayers is 5% , or 213762 of the taxpayers assessed.

The average deduction that Bende’ls Consulting successfully obtained is R150 00.00. This extrapolated on the 213762 taxpayers implied that the actual tax deductions for 2010 tax year should have been R30 billion! Previous tax years make for no better reading .

Why such substantial differences?

Lack of knowledge by taxpayers and their tax practitioners?

Inadequate (if any) internal training on these complex tax matters?

Have your employees been advised of this?

With the 2012 deadline fast approaching is it not time to Talk Tax and disability with Bendels Consulting?

The Bendels Consulting specialist service offering includes advising advisors, training accounting firms country-wide and empowering HR personnel so they can improve the lives of their many employees.

Bendels Consulting® was founded in February 2007 and is a niche tax consulting practice. For the past nine years we have specialised in the provision of tax compliance and tax law advisory services to individuals where there is a “disability” in the family.